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(N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

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Plow. No. 243,138. Patented June 21,1881.

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2 Sheets-Sheet Plow.

Patented June 21, 188].

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7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. JENKINS, OF LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,139, dated June 21, 1881.

Application filed April 9, 1881.

consists in pivoting the colter loosely to the plowshare or the frame of the plow further,

in securing to the side of the colter a guide-- wheel which is adapted to adjustment; further, in combining the guide-wheel with a scraper to clean the same; and, finally, in providing means to secure the colter rigidly in any desired position, all of which is more fullyset forth in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form part thereof.

knife, wheel, or plow colters, or with a springarm, and the guidewheel located some distance in advance of the colter. To keep the colter cutting uniformly in plows of the .old construction it is necessary to make the plowshare change its level continuously by means of the front guide-wheel secured to the frame, as shown at a; in Fig. 4, in which the cut of the plowshare is nearly always parallel to the surface and always about six inches below it.

In my improved plow the guide-wheel is attached to the colter,and, being pivoted to the plowshare or the frame, it allows the colter to automatically follow the variations in the level of the ground, and allows the plowshare to turn the ground irregularly or on a practically uniform level and in a straight line, as shown at y of Fig. 4. 7

The latest improved plows in common use are made with a wheel and colter or sod-scalper, (commonly called a j ointer,) both of which are attached rigidly to the beam, the cutter being located somedistance in advance of the plowshare and the wheel at or near the end of the beam.

(No model.)

In many of the plows of the present day ohjectionable features are found, and, which I have endeavored to overcome. Some of those features may be considered the following: Generally they are too top-heavy and cannot be conveniently handled in the field, and by locating the wheel at the front end of the pole and near the horses the single-trees or traces are liable to catch in short turning.

Stones are liable to wedge in between the colter and plow and throw it out of the ground or to stop the team. The rigid wheel will not admit the plow to enter the ground to its proper depth, nor the colter to enter at all, till the plow has moved a considerable distance.

The colter (sodscalper) is usually set to run alfout two inches in depth, and the plow (by the adj ustable wheel on the beam) to run about fourinches deeper. This arrangement on level ground will turn a uniform furrow of sixinches in depth, as shown at 01:, Figs. 4 and 5, which cannot be varied at the will of the plowman to is found in different parts of the same field, and

even in the same furrow.

In order to keep the nose of the colter at all times, if possible, below the sod, the nose of the plow is turned downward, thus causing unnecessary inclination to dip, unnecessary pressure upon thewheel, and consequently unnecessary labor for the team.

When the wheel is upon a slight elevation of ground and the colt-er is over a slight depression, as shown in Fig. 7, it (the colter) will be entirely out of the ground, and when the wheel is in a slight depression and the colter in an elevation, it will run too deep and not turn the grass'under.

In doubling together, the first two furrows should be plowed shallow, the next two a little deeper, and the next two still deeper, and so on; otherwise there will be a high ridge where the first two furrows are turned together on top of the undisturbed surface beneath them. lVith the plow in common use none of these variations can be made without frequent adjustment of the wheel and cutter by means of an iron wrench.

In turning furrows left and right, when it comes to the last furrow the wheel cannot be kept upon it, and the plow, having an undue inclination to dip, for purposes above stated,

In myimproved plow all these imperfections are OVGICOIIIG by attaching the wheel which regulates the depth of the sod-scalper to the colter and pivoting the latter to the plow or plow-frame. By this arrangement the colter is free to automatically follow the variations in the level of the ground, cutting its two inches, and nornore, in lowas well as in high places,leaving the plow to run independently of it and subject to its natural inclination or to the will of the plowman, in which case no subsoil need ever be turned, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

A is the plow-frame, and B is the ordinary plowshare. To the plow share or frame at C is pivoted anarm, D, which extends in front of the plowshare and carries firmly secured to it a colter, E, for cutting and turning the sod. There are several pivot-holes, O, for adjusting the pivot ot' the arm I). This arm D is guided vertically between two bars, F, secured between the frame and plowshare, said bars being provided with a series of holes, G,which register with a hole, H, on arm D, which is adapted to be adjusted rigidly at any height by means of same and a pin, I. To the side of the colter or the arm D, and secured in slot J, is a bracket, K, carrying a pin or axle, L, upon which the colter guide-wheel M is located and secured. The scraper N is secured to the arm D back of the wheel M, both of which maybe adjusted vertically or laterally to and from each other.

The operation is as follows: The plow being dragged through the ground, the plowshare may always be drawn on a practically level line, as shown at 3 ,Fig. 4c, or may be varied at will by the driver, as shown in Fig. 9; and if there are any variations in the surface of the ground the colter guide-wheel M causes the colter to rise or fall so that it shall always cut about two inches in depth. The WheelM makes the colter self-adjusting and self-governing. Any grass, dirt, 850., which may be carried up on the wheel is cleaned ofl' by the scraper N, and grass which might become pressed in between the front of the colter and wheel, and

tend to bind'about its bearing, is immediately carried down and discharged, and thus the colter and wheel is self-cleaning.

If it is not desired that the colter should cut two inches in depth, the wheel M may be adjusted lower by means of bracket K; and if the use of the colter is not desired, it can be raised up and kept above the ground by means of the guide-bars F and pin I, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2.

I am aware of the patent to Lyons, dated October 19,1875, but claim nothing therein shown or described.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a plow, a colter pivoted to the plow and adapted to rise and fall by its own gravity independently of the plow, to accord with the undulations of the ground, as and for the purpose specified.

-2. In a plow, a colter secured to an arm pivoted to the plow, said colter being adapted to rise and fall by its own gravity independently of the plow, to accord with the undulations of the ground, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a plow, a colter pivoted to the plow, in combination with a wheel secured to said colter, to cause the same to rise and fall in accordance with the undulations or variations in the surface of the ground, as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a plow, the combination of the plowt'rame A, plowshare B, pivoted arm D, colter E, guide-wheel M, and scraper N, as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a plow, the combination of the pivoted colter E and its arm, slot J, adjustable bracket K, wheel M, and scraper N, as and for the purpose specified.

6. In aplow,a colter,E,in combination with a guide-wheel, M, pivoted to the same, and mechanism to adjust said wheel with reference to the colter, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

CHAS. S. JENKINS.

Witnesses:

SYL. JENKINS, 0. M. Evans. 

